Cattle

“ Beautiful cattle covered the hills, their tinkling bells ringing out in the clear air, and blending their tones with the ceaseless flow of falling water, imparting just that amount of sound that relieved the solemn character of the scene, and gave it vitality. ”

“ Cattle were grazing their way homeward; the cows bearing their burden of laden udders to yield it for the benefit and prosperity of the community; the steers lingering at the banks of the murmuring mountain stream, or standing knee-deep in its waters, their sleek sides sheathed in rolls of fat, only waiting to yield up their humble lives as their contribution to the insatiable demands of the dominant race. ”

“ The cattle-piece is so true to nature, so warm in tone, and powerful in execution, that one almost wonders, after a lengthened contemplation of the work, to see the bull, the sheep, the cow, and the shepherd remain so still and motionless, expecting them to begin to move. ”

“ Cattle go by, great droves of them, being driven along the Road and sold from farm to farm until all are gone. I love the day that brings them. A dust haze down the Road, the mooing of cows and the baaing of calves, the shouts of the drovers, the sound of many hoofs, and the cattle are here. ”

“ The unhurrying and ruminating cattle make the days long; they make the fields friendly, the hills eloquent, the shade-trees idyllic. I wake up to hear the farmer summoning them from the field in the dewy summer dawns, and I listen for his call to them on the tranquil afternoons. ”

“ Below, in the quiet fields, the cattle are standing, knee-deep in water, beneath the spreading branches of the kindly alder. They have no energy to eat, but munch, sleepily, the all-satisfying cud, and, with gentle if expressionless eyes, look out afar for evening and the milkmaid. ”

“ Later yet, the birches, alders, aspens swelling into bud; the laurel clothing itself in rosy bloom ... The rough battle with the soil a seeming holiday to men no longer condemned to idleness; to draw the hard breath of toil from morn till eve a gracious favour ...
--The cattle, at last set free from their shed, gallop to the pasture and glut themselves with the fresh grass. All the new-born creatures--the calves, the fowls, the lambs, gambol in the sun and add daily to their stature like the hay and the barley. ”

“ The binders follow the reapers and place the sheaves in gleaming rows, while behind them follows the great wagon gathering in the fallen grain,—a wagon not of earth, but built of gold. Beautiful cattle draw the wain, cattle that [351] tread on silver hoofs and move without other command than sweet music, or the soft touch of a white-armed angel. Around the necks of the cattle are white lilies, and from the horns droop garlands of many-colored flowers, freshly picked from the dewy grass. ”

“ The leading cattle, eager with that strange instinct that, even early in the fall, calls all ruminants from good mountain feed to the brown lower country, pressed forward, their necks outstretched, their eyes fixed on some distant vision. ”

“ The cattle enclosure is already alive with the dappled hides of its denizens, moving about among whom are the bronzed forms of the cattle-herd and his small boys, who are busily employed in sorting out the calves and shutting them up in their pen for the night, away from their mothers, so that these may contribute their share towards filling the milk-pails in the morning. ”

“ The young cowmen were up and away with the rising sun, riding among and counting the different bunches of cattle encountered, noting the cripples, and letting no details of the conditions of the herd, in their leisurely course up the creek, escape their vigilance. ”

“ The women look after the calves, make tea in the open air, or prepare milk in various ways; the men, mounted on fiery horses, armed with a long pole, gallop about, guiding to the best pastures the great herds of cattle which undulate over the surrounding country like waves of the sea. ”

“ On one side was the greatest variety of cattle, the most beautiful of their kinds, grazing in fields whose verdure equalled that of the finest turf, nor were they destitute of their ornaments, only the woodbines and jessamine, and such flowers as might have tempted the inhabitants of these pastures to crop them, were defended with roses and sweetbriars, whose thorns preserved them from all attacks. ”

“ A mountain farm often boasts in summer some three score to a hundred head of cattle, besides the pigs to fatten, and the goats, from whose milk is made a delicate little round cream-cheese, the cabecou. The herd is under the care of a responsible dairyman, aided by two or three bouviers, or cowboys, and at least one little cowherd. It is wonderful to see how mere a hut suffices to house them all. The cattle sleep in the open, save the youngest calves, who have a little byre all to themselves. ”

“ The good old days when an active young man could brand annually fifteen calves—all better than yearlings—to every cow he owned, are looked back to to this day, from cattle king to the humblest of the craft, in pleasant reminiscence, though they will come no more. ”

“ The most important results of man's agency in improving cattle by breeding, care, and management have been a tendency of the animals to mature at an earlier age, and readily to lay on flesh and fat, and an increase of the milk-production far beyond the needs of the calf, and prolongation of the natural period of milk-flow. At the present time the various recognized breeds of domestic cattle may be classified in a general way as beef cattle and dairy cattle. ”

“ The flesh of cattle, of all kinds, fatted in confined and filthy places, on oil-cakes, or rank and half-decayed vegetables, should be rejected, as unfit for use. On the contrary, those animals which have been bred and pastured in open situations, on high lands, extensive downs, dry commons, heaths, and large enclosures, where the air is pure, and particularly where the grass is short and sweet, and where they require much exercise to obtain their sustenance, have their juices pure, their flavour excellent, and the texture of their flesh delicate, nutritive, and wholesome. ”

“ The herd, which before breakfast had been driven north to the river meadows, was returning to feed upon the young crops, and was dangerously near the river edge of the wheat. The cattle were grazing as they advanced, the cows leading and the beef cattle bringing up the rear. And when the foremost animals saw the youngest brother cantering toward them with the pack, they only hurried forward the faster so as to get a taste of the forbidden grain before they were compelled to turn tail. ”

“ A brief sketch of the principal breeds of American cattle, as well as of the grades or the common stock of the country, will aid the farmer, perhaps, in making an intelligent selection with reference to the special object of pursuit, whether it be the dairy, the production of beef, or the raising of cattle for work. ”

“ Remembering that cattle were still valued for draught rather than for milk or beef, we cannot imagine that farmers would be ready to set aside their red or their black cattle for either the red-and-white or the white. ”

“ On the open range the cattle get mixed more or less, and in the spring there is a general round-up of the cattle, after the calves have been born and are following their mothers.
The cow-punchers go into the vast herds and drive out the calves. Of course, the mother follows the calf, lowing piteously for it.
When the cow is out with the calf, it can be plainly seen to whom she belongs by the brand on her. Her owner, or his men or representatives, promptly throw her and the calf into their own herd, and later put their brand on the calf. ”

“ On them cattle of more than a hundred owners pasture in herds, and are collected, counted, and the young branded at the season when the calf cannot mistake its mother. The dexterity with which the herdsman on horseback with a lance in his hand separates one of his master’s brand from the rest, is wonderful. In the dry season when the blade is long and rank, it is customary to burn all the grass on the plains, which serves as an annual manure; for in that season the cattle generally take to the forests in search of the herbage which the sun has not had the power to parch. ”

“ Dotted about everywhere are the groups of great coarse-bred cattle, often watery sky-blue in their colour like the milk they yield in such profusion — the cattle that enliven the pieces of Cuyp and Paul Potter. ”

“ The cattle of this 'Cole-Holderness breed' are of good size and fair form as beef animals. * * * They are deep-bodied, with large udders and teats, with excellent escutcheons, great swollen and tortuous milk-veins [30] and skins as yellow as Guernsey's. ”

“ It would be interesting to take up each separate breed of cattle and trace its source, giving credit to the men who improved and developed it, and the date of each importation; but the limitations of this article forbid anything more than brief mention of the more prominent breeds, and many which possess great merit cannot be even mentioned. The improved cattle of the United States may be grouped under three heads—beef, dairy, and general purpose. ”

“ My boys, here on the Beaver, report a measly loss of twelve head, out of over five hundred cattle. And you must recollect that these were rag-tag and bob-tail, the flotsam of a hundred herds, forty per cent cripples, walking on crutches. Think of it! Two per cent loss, under herd, a sleet over the range for six weeks, against your ten per cent kill on an open range. You must have a slatterly, sore-thumbed lot of men on your beef ranch. ”

“ The cattle of this country differ from ours, in having a great bunch of grisly flesh on the meeting of their shoulders. Their sheep have great bob-tails of considerable weight, and their flesh is as good as our English mutton, but their wool is very coarse. They have also abundance of salt, and sugar is so plentiful, that it sells, when well refined, for two-pence a pound, or less. ”

“ But as nature seems to have intended this tract of country for the raising of cattle instead of grain, the husbandman has listened to the suggestion, and in this great barren are found some thousands of the finest cattle which the State affords. Here the horse, the ox, and the swine feed, thrive, and fatten with little expense to their owner; but sheep do not, and never will, thrive on prairie grass, or wet grounds. ”

“ The cattle are commonly small and hardy, and, like the Mexican cattle, are able to bear unfavourable conditions. Sheep are reared over a somewhat wider range, exclusively for their wool, The “natives,” or descendants of the early importations, are small, long-legged animals, whose wool is scanty and poor. ”

“ They may bring their fattest cattle and richest fruits to the fair, but they are all eclipsed by the show of men. These are stirring autumn days, when men sweep by in crowds, amid the rustle of leaves, like migrating finches, this is the true harvest of the year, when the air is but the breath of men, and the rustling of leaves is as the trampling of the crowd. ”

“ Now from the first day we worked the range, we cut out some steers fat enough for beef, and those cattle were under constant herd night and day, and the men were supposed to handle those cattle so they would gain in flesh while we were holding them—and any cowboy caught running or roping those steers was fired at once—and great care was taken to keep the cattle from stampeding. When we got all through we would have 2,000 or 2,500 head of cattle in the herd. ”

“ And then, since we've claimed it, we want to make a showing of occupying the range, by scattering the cattle over it. Within a month, our cows must rest in the shade of Hackberry Grove and be watering out of those upper springs. When you take a country, the next thing is to hold it. ”

“ The term cattle in its broadest significance includes not only horned animals, but horses, sheep, and nearly all kinds of domestic animals. In a more restricted and commonly accepted sense it is applied to the various breeds of meat or bovine animals belonging to the species Bos taurus, including the domestic ox, steer, and cow. Cattle seem to have been almost the first animals domesticated by man in the early period of the world's history, and also the most valuable and necessary to his highest welfare in all ages and stages of civilization since that time. ”

“ Cattle find a natural theatre of existence on the plains. There, likewise, flourishes the pastoral man. But cattle herding, confined to the plains, gives way before the westward creep of agriculture. Each year beholds more western acres broken by the plough; each year witnesses a diminution of the cattle ranges and cattle herding. This need ring no bell of alarm concerning a future barren of a beef supply. ”

“ To one who has only known cattle in the Eastern States from watching working-oxen crawling along a road a mile and a half in an hour, or mild old dairy-cows loafing home from pasture at night, these spirited wild cattle seem a different race of animals. ”

“ Usually a herd of cattle along—steers for the plough, young bullocks to supply beef for consumption on the journey, milch kine to give comfort to the children and colour to the tea and coffee—among them an old bull or two, to propagate the species on reaching the projected settlement. ”

“ They do not confine themselves even a day after labour, but wash and return to their work immediately. They plow, sow, and reap. The cattle tread out the corn, but the men are the herdsmen, and take charge of the cattle in the fields. ”

“ That is why so many think—not unnaturally—that range cattle were always held under herd. But it is a mistaken impression. Cattle do not thrive under herd.
Cattle on the free range—everybody’s cattle—were turned loose and mixed together. ”

“ The wild cattle in general are said to be stronger and bigger, than European cattle, and of a brown red colour. Their horns are but short, though very thick close to the head. These and several other qualities, which they have in common with, and in greater perfection than the tame cattle, have induced some to endeavour to tame them ”